My Time at Hogwarts
by RavenclawEncyclopedia
Summary: Riley Scamander is about to start her first year at Hogwarts. With classes, pranks alongside the Weasleys, and dealing with her idiot brother ahead of her, she's in for one wild year! Rated T for strong language. Mentions of Cedric/OC. Title may change.
1. The Hogwarts Express

**A/N: Hello! Well, here it is, my second fanfic, and my first chapter fic. I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to the wonderful and BRILLIANT Joanne Kathleen Rowling.**

I sighed and swept my long, auburn hair behind my ear as I stared out the window of the compartment.

There were three other girls in there, named Lavender Brown, Paravati Patil, and Padma Patil; two boys named Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas sat with us as well. However, none of them seemed like the type I'd get along with. Lavender and Paravati were far to giggly for my tastes, talking about boys and makeup and the latest issues of _Witch Weekly_ where Gilderoy Lockhart (vomit) talked about himself. Again.

Seamus kept going on and on about Quidditch to Muggleborn Dean, who listened attentively, asking questions every now and then. Now, I don't have anything at all against Quidditch, in fact I love it, when I found out firsties weren't allowed their own brooms I said 'bollocks' out loud and got in a fairly large amount of trouble. I blame Aiden for my foul language.

Padma was a little quieter than her twin sister, but they were still very similar beings. I bet if you told them that they'd be bloody _furious_, but oh, well. They'll deal.

We'd hardly gotten to the outskirts of London when a girl with very bushy hair and rather large front teeth came in, dragging a dark-haired boy that looked vaguely familiar with her.

"Hello," she said. "I'm Hermione Granger. Have you seen a toad? Neville's lost one."

Ah! I remember now. The boy, Neville, had been in front of me in line at Flourish and Blott's when I'd gone to get all my stuff for school. He was a clumsy little bugger, too.

"EW, no!" Lavender said. "Toads are gross!"

"Toads are not gross!" I smirked. "They're just slimy, like my dick of a brother. He's a third year Slytherin. By the way," I added to Hermione, "I'm Riley Scamander."

"Oh, yes, I do believe we've had the pleasure of meeting your sister up near the front, she was really nice, and your brother two compartments ago," Hermione said. "He said some really nasty things to us, and then he called me something that made Neville really mad, I don't know what it was, though."

Oh, bugger. "What'd he call you?" Seamus asked.

"He called me a 'filthy little mudblood,' whatever that is," Hermione said matter of factly. "But I know it's really rude, judging by Neville's reaction and the looks on you lot's faces right now."

I was mad as hell. Who did the bastard think he was? And he probably didn't even know if she was Muggleborn or not, either! I don't even know, why the hell would she tell a rude bunch of Slytherin gits? It's a mite hypocritical, too, since when he popped out of the oven it was a Muggleborn doing the pushing and shoving. The nerve of that boy!

As it was, everyone in our compartment was furious, excluding Dean, being Muggleborn himself.

"You should come in and sit," Lavender said, shifting slightly so the seat next to her was open. Hermione sat there, and Neville sat between me and Dean.

"There are a couple things you need to know about our world," Lavender began.

"First and foremost," I said, "do you know about Harry Potter and You-Know-Who?"

She nodded, thank Merlin. "Harry Potter was the first person ever to survive the Killing Curse, and he defeated You-Know-Who when he was only a year old!"

"Good," Paravati said, "Because I really don't fancy talking about something like that on my way to Hogwarts for the first time."

"Secondly," continued Seamus, "is that there are some people who think they're better than others because they're what we call 'pureblood.'"

"These are the kind of people who will look down on you for being Muggleborn—and I know there's nothing wrong with having Muggle parents, my dad is Muggleborn and so's my Gran on my mum's side!" said Paravati.

"Anyway, these people are the ones who'll call you…what Riley's brother called you," Padma finished.

"Which, I have to say," I added, "is ludicrous of Aiden to be doing, because our mum's a Muggleborn herself!"

"Well, like you said earlier," Seamus said offhandedly, "your brother's a dick."

We sat quietly for a moment, rocking with the train as it sped along the track, taking us to Hogwarts.

"Erm, Hermione?" Neville said tentatively. "I'm gonna go keep looking for Trevor, are you gonna stay here or help me?"

"I'll go with you, Neville, I did promise to help you find it!" Hermione said. "And my parents have always told me that it's bad luck to break a promise."

They stood, bid us goodbye, and left.

After a moment, I rose as well. "Not that it isn't brilliant fun in here," I said to the five others in the compartment, "but I need to walk around a little, clear my head, and maybe yell at the git that I happen to be related to."

"Oh, be careful," Padma warned, "you don't want to get hurt, that would be awful."

"Yeah, from what I've heard so far, walking into a compartment of older Slytherins sounds like suicide," Dean added.

"I'll be fine," I waved away their concerns. "His friends'll back off, they know, with us, it's always a siblingish type thing, so they leave us to it. I'll see you lot later." And with that I left to go find Aiden.

Sure enough, five compartments up the train Aiden was sitting with a group of Slytherin boys in his year.

"Aiden," I hissed once I had opened the door. When he didn't get up right away, I seized his ear and dragged him out of the compartment.

Once we were out in the corridor with me I slammed the door shut and yelled "Who the ruddy hell do you think you are? Calling a random first year you've never even _met_ before the 'M' word! Our own _mother_ is bloody Muggleborn! You have Muggle blood in your veins! What gives you any right to call people that? If I hear of you calling someone that again, there'll be hell to pay, mister. I don't give a shit about anyone's rules, I'll hex you to kingdom come!"

My face was red, my blue-green eyes sparked with anger, and my ears were ringing from the volume of my own yelling. Some people had even stuck their heads out of the doors to their compartments to see who was making all the noise, including Dean, Seamus, Padma, Paravati, and Lavender.

"Now, now, that's enough!" said a voice behind me. I turned around to see a Gryffindor prefect with red hair and an annoyingly superior look on his face.

"No one gives a shit what _you've _got to say, Weasley," sneered Aiden.

I turned around and slapped him across the face. "Shut up, jackass," I snarled. "He's just doing his job, and if you weren't so foulmouthed in the first place, I wouldn't have bad language and we wouldn't even be in this situation!"

"I said _enough_," the prefect, Weasley, said.

"Fine," I said, "but I'm not finished with you, mister. We'll talk later." I added to Aiden, then stalked off.

I was stopped in the corridor about halfway down the train by another redheaded boy, who looked to be about my brother's age. "What was all the noise a minute ago?" he asked.

I blushed (he was rather cute). "That was me. I was yelling at my older brother. Aiden Scamander?"

"Ah," he said. "What'd he do now? Your sister, Diana, is it? Anyway, Diana's always yelling at him."

"He called one of my soon-to-be classmates the 'M' word," I answered. The boy looked furious.

"Well, hats off to you for screaming at him, then. D'you wanna sit down?" he gestured to the compartment he was standing in front of.

"Erm, okay," I said a little hesitantly.

"Fred Weasley, by the way," he said as he stood aside to let me in.

"Oh, yeah, I just got told off by your brother the prefect, for yelling in the corridor."

"That would be Percy," said another voice. I turned to see another redhead that looked exactly like Fred sitting in the compartment.

"Twin!" I said. Then I saw what was in his lap. "Spider!" I shrieked. The twins chuckled.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that," said another boy, who was sitting by the window with a box. "His name's Benjamin."

"Oh, I don't care," I said, sitting down across from him. "I was just startled. What're your names?"

"Lee Jordan," said the boy across from me.

"George Weasley," said the twin of Fred Weasley.

"Fred Weasley," said Fred.

"I already knew that," I said.

"Yeah, but I figured that since we were doing the name game I might as well join in the fun."

"That makes sense," I said, even though it didn't. "I'm Riley Scamander."

"Scamander?" asked Lee suddenly. "You're not related to Aiden and Diana Scamander, the most polar opposite twins in the history of the world, are you?"

"Of course I am, they're my older siblings, how many other Scamander families do you think there are in the world?" I answered.

"Which one are you more like?" George asked.

"Neither. As you know, Diana's a Hufflepuff through and through, and Aiden, the git, completely fits the Slytherin profile," I said. "I, on the other hand, am sarcastic, witty, smartish, pretty, fairly good at Quidditch, and I'm incredibly modest, can't you tell?" I listed. "Oh, and I'm a prankster. My house is only ever quiet when I'm locked in my room and everything's either been used up or confiscated."

"_Excellent!_" said Fred and George together.

"What?" I asked them.

"You're a prankster. What house do you want to be in?" Lee asked.

"Gryffindor."

"Are you brave?" Lee asked.

"Well, let's see," I said, pretending to think deeply. "I don't know any magic, and I just walked into a compartment full of fourth year Slytherins and proceeded to drag my brother by the ear out into the corridor to yell at him for calling another first year something nasty."

They stared at me. "And you're a firstie?" George asked weakly. I nodded.

"You've got guts, girl," Fred said. "I wouldn't've done that, even if it was my brother."

I shrugged. "Well, I wasn't about to let him get away with it, was I? Anyway, I'm bored, and I have a Filibuster Firework that I really want to let off into a random compartment," I said excitedly. "Will you lot help me, or do I have to do it myself?"

That was the first prank I ever pulled alongside Fred and George Weasley.

But most definitely not my last.

When we were about fifteen minutes away from Hogwarts, I went back to the compartment where my trunk was to change. When Lavender, Paravati, and Padma heard how close we were and how little time we had to change, they promptly joined me in kicking Seamus and Dean out so we could change into our robes. As we waited for the boys to change, they asked me where I went.

"Oh, about halfway down the train, there were three boys that had a giant tarantula," I said. "I hung out with them for most of the ride, after I screamed at Aiden for a bit."

"Oh, yeah, Seamus saw you," Lavender giggled. "He said the look on your brother's face was priceless, especially since he's nine inches taller than you."

It's true. I got the short gene, unfortunately.

"Yeah, well, he _should _be used to it by now, I always yell at him after he says something like that."

"How often does he say it?" Padma asked.

"Every time he's talking about Muggleborns," I said bitterly.

Paravati gasped. "Really?"

"Unfortunately," I said. "Come on, we're almost to Hogsmeade, we'd better sit down before the train stops or we'll fall over." We went back into the compartment and sat.

"Anyway," Padma said after we were settled (which lasted about five minutes, I might add), "I thought I'd just warn you, you might want to clean up your language a bit. The teachers certainly won't appreciate it."

"That's for sure," Lavender said. "My dad said McGonagall in particular is very strict."

"Ah, phooey," I waved their advice aside. "What do I care about a little detention? I'd make a name for myself, wouldn't I?"

"You most certainly would, what with all we heard spewing from your mouth when you yelled at your brother," Paravati retorted.

"I think Riley's language is just fine," Seamus said. "I don't think most people will care."

"But," Dean said excitedly, "that's not important right now! What's important is that we are about twenty minutes to setting foot in Hogwarts for the first time ever!"

Sure enough, the train jerked to a halt at Hogsmeade station.

We stood and, upon recommendation from an older student who passed by, left our luggage on board for the house-elves to retrieve. We stepped onto the platform, and I heard a voice saying, "Firs' years! Firs' years, over 'ere!" I followed the sound and literally ran into an enormous man, about ten feet tall. More than twice as tall as me, for sure!

"All right there, Harry?" he asked a boy with black hair, glasses, and—_a lightning bolt scar on his forehead!_ Blimey, that's Harry Potter! "Everyone here? Good! Follow me."

He led us through a really dark set of woods. "You'll get yer first glimpse of the castle right up here," he said.

There was a loud "Oooohhh!" from the group as we came around a bend. It was magnificent—all the lights were on in the windows, and it towered against the lavender-colored sky in the fading evening, glowing slightly.

We reached the lake, where a dozen little boats were lined up on the shore.

"No more'n four to a boat!" the man said. I clambered into one, along with Lavender, Paravati, and Padma. "Everyone in?" he asked. "Right then—forward!" The little boats shot forward across the lake. As they glided across the water, I looked over the side of our boat. Of course, I wasn't paying any attention when our leader gave the order of "Heads down!"

_CRACK!_

My head smashed into a wall of stone, and I overbalanced and fell into the water. Padma shrieked, and Lavender grabbed my hand. Suddenly, something _slimy _from _in _the lake grabbed me and shoved me back into the boat. I would've turned to see what it was, but I didn't want our boat to capsize.

The boats landed on the opposite shore with a _bump. _Then the man, who I overheard someone say was named Hagrid, led us up to a pair of enormous double doors. Raising a gigantic fist to the door, he knocked three times.

**A/N: So, what'd you think? Please tell me in a REVIEW! They really do make us authors want to write more, we don't just say that. It makes us feel good about what we write, and in turn makes us want to post more. I also won't upload the second chapter until I get at **_**least**_** 10 reviews! I accept both Signed and Anonymous reviews, for those of you out there who don't have an account.**


	2. The Sorting

**A/N: I lied ;) I will be posting this, even though you lot were too *ahem* lazy to review! I am aware of the number of people who read this but didn't care to share their thoughts! But thanks to the one person who did, in fact, review: OtterMoone! Love ya, Samm! Here's chapter 2, dedicated to my lonely reviewer! **

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, as well as both the songs and the underlined stuff, belongs to the wonderful and BRILLIANT Joanne Kathleen Rowling. Anything you don't belongs to yours truly.**

* * *

><p>The doors swung open to reveal an oldish-looking woman in fancy green robes looking at us sternly.<p>

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said.

"Thank you, Hagrid," she said. "Follow me, please," she added to our little group, and we followed her up a short flight of stairs to a small room. We passed a pair of doors on our way, and I heard a ton of people chattering away on the other side; clearly, that was where the rest of the school was.

Professor McGonagall turned to us and started on a speech that was probably memorized and had probably been given many times before. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room.

"The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes—"

"AAAAAAAARGH!" screamed a blonde boy who was clearly a Malfoy. He'd been standing in front of me, and I just _couldn't _resist! His hair was too pale white, so I decided to drop a dungbomb on it. I, unfortunately, was snickering uncontrollably, so she knew it was me.

"You're a Scamander?" she scowled. I nodded. "You have your father's eyes, and now you have a detention as well." I groaned, then grinned slightly. That _has _to be a record!

"As I was saying," said Professor McGonagall, shooting me a glare, "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

She looked at Neville, who had his cloak fastened under his left ear, and then at a red-haired boy whose long nose was smudged.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She turned and walked away. As soon as the door closed behind her, everyone began whispering nervously between themselves.

"Honestly," I said to the smudge-nosed redhead, who was going on about wrestling a troll. "Why would they have us wrestle a troll? They're far too smelly. I happen to hear it from my older siblings, and my sister never lies, that all we have to do is duel Albus Dumbledore. Winners go to Gryffindor, the ones who get _flattened _go to Slimy Slytherin, and the other two can just go wherever the hell they want!"

"Really?" he and the black-haired boy with the… SCAR!

"Merlin's pants!" I exclaimed. "You're Harry Potter!"

He looked embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess."

I snorted. "How do you not know whether you're you or not?" I asked him. "Silly boy. Nice to meet you though!" I turned away.

"Do we really have to duel Albus Dumbledore?" the redhead asked quietly.

I almost burst out laughing right there. "Of course not! Why on earth would we have to do that? We probably have to do something small, and nobody tells us what it is because they think it's funny to watch us freak out."

"Oh," he said, his ears turning red as he turned back to his conversation with Potter.

A load of ghosts showed up and half the class screamed their heads off, causing Potter to leap a foot into the air (it was hilarious!). They were most likely discussing Peeves, who enjoyed playing jokes on students (he got Aiden good with ink pellets and walnuts last year—don't ask, just laugh).

Then McGonagall came back. "We're ready for you now," she said briskly, and led us into the Great Hall.

It was probably the most amazing thing I've seen in my entire life! There were a thousand students seated at four different tables, and about twenty-fiveish teachers sitting at a table on a platform type thing. The ceiling shone with constellations, and even one or two 'shooting stars'! I heard Hermione whisper to Neville: "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts: A History_"

There was a patched, frayed, dirty, pointed old wizard's hat sitting on a stool in front of the staff table. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth—and the hat began to sing:

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
>But don't judge on what you see,<br>I'll eat myself if you can find  
>A smarter hat than me.<br>You can keep your bowlers black,  
>Your top hats sleek and tall,<br>For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
>And I can cap them all.<br>There's nothing hidden in your head  
>The Sorting Hat can't see,<br>So try me on and I will tell you  
>Where you ought to be.<br>You might belong in Gryffindor,  
>Where dwell the brave at heart,<br>Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
>Set Gryffindors apart;<br>You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
>Where they are just and loyal,<br>Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
>And unafraid of toil;<br>Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
>If you've a ready mind,<br>Where those of wit and learning,  
>Will always find their kind;<br>Or perhaps in Slytherin  
>You'll make your real friends,<br>Those cunning folk use any means  
>To achieve their ends.<br>So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
>And don't get in a flap!<br>You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
>For I'm a Thinking Cap!"<em>

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"When I call your name," McGonagall said, "You will come forward, I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, and you will be Sorted into your house."

She held up a very long list just as the doors to the hall burst open and another first year came running in.

"Sorry!" the redhead yelled. "Fell asleep on the train, almost got taken back to London! House-elf woke me up. Missed the boats and carriages. Had to walk all the way up here." I heard Fred and George Weasley laugh loudly at her expense; she grinned at them with a smile quite similar to their own, and I had no doubt this was their sister.

Professor McGonagall looked at her sternly; I could tell that she—and, most likely, I—would be receiving that look quite frequently over the next seven years. "Abbott, Hannah!" she called as though nothing had happened.

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause—

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went and sat at the Puff table, with the ghost of the Fat Friar waving at her.

"Bones, Susan!" 

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brown, Lavender!"

"GRYFFINDOR!" The table on the far left exploded with cheers; I saw Fred and George catcalling and couldn't suppress a grin.

"Bulstrode, Millicent!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

I hissed at her as she went to sit near my despicable older brother. The sorting carried on. Seamus was sorted into Gryffindor after almost a whole minute.

"Granger, Hermione!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Go, Hermione!" I whispered. Neville joined her there after he tripped on the way up, and then had to take it back up to Morag MacDougal because he forgot to take it off.

"Malfoy, Draco!"

I glared with dislike as the kid swaggered up to the stool. I'd hated the Malfoys ever since, one year, my dad brought me to work with him (Werewolf Registry for the Dep. For Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures) and we met Malfoy Sr. and Malfoy Jr. in the lift. Both of them were appallingly rude.

"SLYTHERIN!" He joined Aiden as well.

Then there was Moon, Nott, Parkinson.

"Patil, Padma!"

"RAVENCLAW!" I clapped politely as she went to the brainy house.

"Patil, Paravati!"

"GRYFFINDOR!" I could tell she was a little startled and sad to be separated from Padma, but she went to the Gryffies and sat next to Lavender with an enormous smile on her face.

"Potter, Harry!"

Instantly, whispers broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"_Potter, _did she say?"

"_The_ Harry Potter?"

Everyone was staring at him. I could tell he was arguing with the hat; there was a slight frown on his face and he shook his head.

Then—"GRYFFINDOR!" I couldn't resist cheering as he was sorted into the house for the brave. The poor kid looked so _scared _for some reason… he went over to the table and sat down. Hermione smiled at him.

"Scamander, Riley!"

I skipped up to the hat. I looked over at Fred and George, who were grinning mischievously. I wondered what they were planning (I want in!) as the hat slipped over my head.

"_Hmm…" _said a small voice in my ear. "_You're quite smart, but you're mostly brave, mischievous, clever, daring… a clear _GRYFFINDOR!" The last word came as a shout and I rose, grinning widely, and skipped back to sit beside the Weasley Twins.

"Thomas, Dean!" He went and sat next to Seamus (they were obviously going to be very close friends) after a second of sitting on the stool with the hat screaming "GRYFFINDOR!" Lisa Turpin then became a Ravenclaw.

"Weasley, Elizabeth!"

Fred and George started snickering quietly at the look on the redhead girl's face.

"I don't know an Elizabeth Weasley, sorry!" she said loudly. "I think you might've got my name wrong, though, it's not Elizabeth, just Liz!"

Professor McGonagall gave her a look that would've made Godric Gryffindor himself quiver with fear. Liz stood her ground. "Miss Weasley, just get up here."

"All right," she said brightly, "but my name's Liz." She rushed up to the hat and was promptly sorted into Gryffindor.

"Weasley, Ronald!" A redheaded boy that looked a lot like Liz, just with a pale green complexion, walked up nervously. The hat sat on his head and a second later it had shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously. I recognized him as the Prefect who yelled at me on the train. I scowled at the memory and glared at the prat I have for family as Blaise Zabini, last of us firsties, joined him as a Slytherin. I looked down at my plate, ravenous, willing food to appear.

Dumbledore had risen and was clearly about to make a speech. He beamed down at us. "Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

He sat down and we applauded and laughed. Then, as if responding to my earlier thought, food appeared out of nowhere in front of us. Ravenous, I dug in.

"So, Lizzy, care to elaborate on why you were so very late?" Fred asked, grinning at Liz. She glared at him.

"I fell asleep on the train, got woken up by a house-elf after everyone was gone, missed the boats and the carriages, and had to high-tail it up here to get to the Sorting. And _you,_" she said, poking him in the chest from across the table, "are an absolute _git _for slipping me that sleeping draught!"

"That wasn't me!" exclaimed the redhead. "That was George!"

"No, I'm pretty sure it was you, Fred," his twin said nonchalantly as he put a bite of boiled potatoes in his mouth.

"Traitor!"

"I'm not about to face her wrath!"

Liz looked for a minute as though she would quite like to hit the both of them, but instead burst out laughing. Lee and I joined her after a moment.

We finished our meals with much talking and laughing. Then dessert appeared: blocks of every flavor ice cream you could think of, apple pie, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, strawberries, Jell-O, trifle, rice pudding, treacle tart… and then, unfortunately, they vanished as Professor Dumbledore rose once more.

"Ahem—just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

His eyes flashed to the Weasley twins beside me, who looked 'innocent'. Fred even put his hands in a circle above his head to represent a halo, which I stuck devil horns under.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death."

I glanced at Fred, George, and Lee, who were no longer grinning; in fact, they looked faintly puzzled. Then they saw me looking and… oh, Merlin, they're grinning evilly at me now! I'd better watch my back…

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore.

"Excellent!" I whispered. Dear old Professor Bumblebee flicked his wand, and a long gold ribbon flew out of it and rose into the air and twisted into words.

"Everyone pick your favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

And the school bellowed:

"_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
>Teach us something please,<br>Whether we be old and bald  
>Or young with scabby knees,<br>Our heads could do with filling  
>With some interesting stuff,<br>For now they're bare and full of air,  
>Dead flies and bits of fluff,<br>So teach us things worth knowing,  
>Bring back what we've forgot,<br>Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
>And learn until our brains all rot!"<em>

Everyone finished singing at different times, until at last Gred and Forge were the only ones left, singing to the tune of a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few words with his wand and was one of those clapping loudest once they'd finished.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

Almost simultaneously, the school rose and turned towards the doors. I knew we were supposed to be following Percy (stupid prat—how could we not, with him bellowing it at the top of his lungs), but I didn't want to, and I was sure Fred and George knew a quicker way to Gryffindor Tower. My own father'd told me of how many secret passages he'd used to get from place to place in the enormous castle, and I was not disappointed. Liz and I followed Fred, George, and Lee through several passageways that were clearly not used by the general population. We passed Peeves, and the third years stopped.

"Hello, Peeves!" said George.

"Weasleys!" Peeves cackled, before looking upon Liz and I. "And a pair of newbies!"

"Peeves, we'd like to introduce you to our little sister, Liz, and Riley Scamander," Fred said, bowing and twirling his hands dramatically.

"Nice to meet you, Peeves!" I grinned.

"Yeah," Liz agreed.

It actually was kind of cool… until he dropped those _sticks _on us. Then we ducked behind another portrait and continued on our way to Gryffindor Tower.

We stopped at a portrait of a fat woman in a pink silk dress. "Password?" she asked.

"Caput draconis," said George with a wink, and the portrait swung forward to admit us.

The Gryffindor common room was round and cozy, with a crackling fireplace and lots of squashy armchairs.

"Better get up there before Percy gets in," Fred said, gesturing at the staircase that leads to the girls' dormitories, "otherwise he'll probably yell at you."

"See you tomorrow," Liz said, and we headed upstairs. We climbed the spiral staircase to the very top and found five four-poster beds hung with deep red, velvet curtains. We found the ones with our trunks beside them, changed into our pajamas, and fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Soooooooo, what do you think of Chapter 2? It's much longer than the last one, and I'm quite proud of it. I think I got everything important that didn't just happen between Harry and the others, and I didn't change the speeches like most people do. Those were prepared, I could tell (McGonagall probably gave that exact same speech since before even the Marauders!) so I believe they shouldn't change, even with added characters. Please, please REVIEW! I love your feedback! It makes me proud of myself, and it lets me know what I need to correct. Please tell me if it's amazing, needs work, sucks, should be burned... I'll even take flames! I'll respond to them all, too, either in a PM or at the beginning or end of the chapters! PLEASE REVIEW! I'll update biweekly, but every time we hit another 10 reviews I'll update a special chapter. Love you all! Review!**


	3. First Day

**I feel absolutely awful! I took WAY too long to post this, and I totally lied as far as posting at certain times. I think I'll amend my previous statement regarding updates: I'm starting Sophomore year in High School, I'm in marching band and mostly honor courses, and will therefore have tons of homework constantly! So don't expect regular updates. I'm really sorry, I wish I could put my writing first, but I can't.**

**Funny fact: Word didn't think 'Quirrell' was a word until I added it to my dictionary, and the first option on spellcheck was 'squirrell'!**

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, as well as the bold stuff, belongs to the wonderful and BRILLIANT Joanne Kathleen Rowling. My cousin Haley is the mastermind who created Liz Weasley. Everything else belongs to yours truly.**

I woke up, naturally, late. I _would _be the one to do that. First thing I see when I open my eyes is my clock telling me it's already 8:45 and I'd better get my arse down to breakfast and get my schedule from McGonagall.

I bolted out of bed, threw my uniform on, grabbed my bag, and flew down the stairs, tying the _damn _tie as I went. Liz was on her way out of the Great Hall when I literally ran into her, and she snickered.

"Late morning?" she asked innocently.

I glared at her suspiciously. "You turned my alarm off, didn't you?"

"Yes, no, maybe so!" she sang, then quickly changed her tune when I smacked her on the back of the head. "OUCH!"

"You deserved it," I said mercilessly as I grabbed a chocolate éclair and hurried over to where McGonagall was handing out the last schedules.

"Professor McGonagall," I said breathlessly, "can I have my schedule, please?" She handed it over and I groaned.

'_Of course we have History of Magic first,'_ I thought as I rushed out of the Great Hall, munching on my éclair. I had five minutes to get to class on time—not that Binns would notice, most likely. I'd heard Diana and Aiden complaining about him—one of the only things Aiden will allow himself to agree with his twin for—in addition to Quidditch and Hogsmeade—they kept saying how effing _boring_ his classes were over the summer. Aiden, however, added a nice little tidbit: he didn't give a shit what you did in there, so most people messed around.

I ran into Diana as she hurried to Transfiguration with some guy in her year named Cedric Diggory. She has a massive crush on him, and I couldn't help but smirk at her.

"Where're you headed, Riley?" she asked me kindly after she made introductions.

"History of Magic," I said, "and I don't have a clue as to where the hell it _is_."

She directed me to the classroom, and I rushed away, calling back my thanks. I missed the trick step on the staircase, thank Merlin, only because I was taking the stairs two at a time.

The bell rang before I made it, but Binns didn't even look up as I quietly opened the door and slid into the seat beside Liz.

"He was already sitting there, blah blah blah-ing when I walked in," she said amusedly, staring at the translucent form of our professor.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" I said in disbelief.

"Nope," she snapped her gum. "But the bright side is he obviously doesn't pay any attention to his students. We can do whatever the hell we want in here!"

Slowly, her words began to sink in, and a devilish smile spread across my face.

"I like the look on your face, what're you planning?" she asked, mirroring my grin.

We both leaned in to whisper to each other, so no one else could hear what I was saying. "Listen to this…"

When History ended an hour and a half later, Liz and I hurriedly put up our stuff and rushed out of the room. "We need to find Fred and George," she said. "They have this pranking club sort of thing, they're like, the elite pranksters of Hogwarts, and I want in. I bet this'd be a brilliant prank for an initiation."

"Don't forget, though, it was my idea," I reminded her. "They may want you to come up with something on your own."

"Oh, they're my brothers, they already know I'm amazing," she said nonchalantly.

"Oh, you're modest," I teased.

"Hypocrite."

"Guilty as charged!" I grinned, striking a pose.

"Anyway," she said, "we still need to find Fred and George."

"Well, what class do we have next?" I asked. "If we're late to, say, Transfiguration, that would be no bueno."

"Well, we have break until eleven, and then Herbology with the Puffs," she said, absently checking her schedule.

"Excellent!" I said brightly. "Let's check the common room."

Gryffindor common room was fairly empty, but Fred and George were there with Lee. Spotting them, we hurried over.

"Oi! You three!" I said, catching their attention.

"What is it, oh ickle firsties?" Fred grinned.

"We have an idea!" I said.

"An excellent idea!" Liz added.

"For a prank!" we said together.

"Excellent!" they replied. "What is it?"

I explained my idea.

"How do you know '_scourgify_'?" Fred asked.

"My mum is very… clean," I shuddered. "So how about it?"

"Well, I'm sure such a spell exists…" George contemplated. "But I'm not sure about a potion…"

"Okay, so we won't do it during class. How about in the corridor at some point, then one of us casts _scourgify _while one of you casts whatever that spell is?" Liz suggested.

"Sure," Fred agreed. "But you two have to find the spell."

We groaned simultaneously. "But we'd have to look in the library, which would take days, maybe _weeks_!" Liz complained.

"Or worse," I gasped. "Ask McGonagall!"

"Do you have a death wish?" Lee gasped.

"No," I said. "But I like my weekends."

"Well, I can't ask," Liz said. "She already knows I'm a troublemaker."

"We have transfiguration this afternoon," I said. "She doesn't know I'm a troublemaker yet, as _I _didn't get caught for the fireworks on the train, and it's only the first day. I'll pretend to be a good little girl during today's lessons, so she's not forewarned, and then ask her later."

"That works. Who are you going to sit next to?" Liz asked. "If you sit next to me, then she'll realize you're not a good kid."

"I dunno," I answered. "Maybe that Abbott girl, Hannah, right? She's a Puff and she looked pretty square."

"She'd probably work, then," Fred announced. "You sure you can act, as you put it, square?"

I snorted. "How do you think I'm still alive today? If my mom knew about half the stuff I've done in the past I'd be dead. It's all about the act."

"Oi, Miss Actress," Seamus Finnigan, one of my Gryffindor classmates said to me from behind, clearly eavesdropping. "I suggest you lot make your way down to Herbology, and wherever they have to go. Break's nearly over."

Herbology and Defense passed with little significance. Unfortunately, Quirrell was a complete coward who supposedly got his turban from an African prince for defeating a zombie. Zombies don't exist. So, he's a liar, and he st-st-stutters constantly! It was ludicrously annoying.

Transfiguration was our last class of the day, so Liz and I were excited for it. Apart from that, I wanted to learn how to turn something in to something else _on purpose._ I'd done it before, but that was Accidental Magic.

Professor McGonagall gave us a talking to the moment we sat down in her classroom.

"**Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."**

'Oh, dear,' I thought. 'Looks like Liz and I won't be taking Transfiguration for very long.'

**Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. **It was very impressive, and I couldn't wait to begin. Unfortunately, we had to take a bunch of complicated notes first, and I realized very quickly that turning furniture into animals was way too hard for "Ickle firsties." Then she gave us each a match and told us to turn it into a needle.

It was really hard, but eventually I got mine to start taking a pointy shape and a hole drilled itself into one end. By the end of the lesson, Hermione was the only one to make any difference in her needle. Professor McGonagall praised us both, showed them my pointy sliver of wood, and Hermione's match, which had turned silver and gone all pointy. She actually smiled at the pair of us! (Hannah Abbott was sitting next to Susan Bones, so I sat next to Hermione instead.)

"Professor McGonagall?" I asked after the rest of the class had cleared out.

"Yes, Miss Scamander?" she responded briskly.

"I was wondering, is there a spell that could make hair turn blonde?"

She fixed me with a piercing glare. "And why, pray tell, do you want to know that?" she asked.

"I have a friend who wants blonde hair, but she was too nervous to ask herself, so I told her I would," I explained.

"Unless this person is at least a sixth year, I would not recommend the attempt," she said. "Human transfigurations are not taught to students below NEWT level for a reason, Miss Scamander. However," she sighed, "I know that if I do not tell you, you'll just go to the library and find out form there. The incantation is '_sufflavus._' Be wise, Miss Scamander."

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall!" I said, rushing out of the room.

Liz was waiting for me outside. "Did she tell you?" She asked excitedly.

"_Sufflavus._" I informed her. "Let's go tell Fred and George."

**A/N: I'd originally intended to put the prank in here, but I decided otherwise. It's a little bit shorter than the last one, but this seemed like a good spot to end it. I'm not too fond of this chapter, but you probably won't hear from me for a while. I need to do my summer reading for school (can anyone explain to me what a dialectical journal is…?) and I have marching band, and school starts the 22****nd****, so I don't have much time for FanFiction. Please review, they literally make my day! I got a really fabulous review once, and I read it on my phone in the morning, and I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day. People kept asking me why, and I told them all different, ridiculous reasons, which was very amusing. And the moral of the story is: Review!**

**Mischief Managed,**

**Rachel**


	4. Author's Note

A/N:

I am terribly sorry. I know I said I wouldn't do this, I know I said I hate when other people do this, but I am putting all of my ongoing stories on a permanent hiatus until I get my life back on track. A lot of things have happened in the last few months, and until I fix my mistakes, I won't be posting anything, unless it's a once-in-a-blue-moon thing that'll happen maybe once or twice for the rest of the school year.

In addition, once that happens, I'm revamping all of my stories in such a way that I may not actually post again for another year. I need a plan of action, not the make it up as you go kind of thing I've been doing, it's just not working, and it makes my life just that much harder.

For this story, I'll probably change the title as well, because I, personally, don't think the title really says what I want it to about the story. Essentially, it'll be a total revamp.

In addition, I'll probably have changed my online pseudonym by the time I post on this again, so my name won't be Rachel anymore.

I'm so sorry.

Mischief managed,

Rachel


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